About CHS

CHS is a global agribusiness owned by farmers, ranchers and cooperatives across the United States. Diversified in energy, agronomy, grains and foods, we’re committed to creating connections to empower agriculture, helping our owners and customers grow their businesses.

Our businesses

CHS offers a breadth of products and services to support our owners and customers every step of the way. Our practical solutions, local expertise and global connections give our farmer-owners and local cooperatives competitive advantages to reach their goals.

AGRONOMY

ENERGY

GRAIN

Stewardship

CHS is committed to making a meaningful impact in agriculture and rural America. Through our stewardship initiatives, we invest in programs that develop new generations of ag leaders, promote ag safety and strengthen hometown communities.

Cooperative value

Cooperatives are owned and governed by members who use its products, supplies, or services and operate in many sectors of the economy. In a cooperative system, people come together to scale buying power, gain access to goods and services and create economic opportunity.

Careers

At CHS, our teams work together to provide the products, services and expertise farmers and cooperatives need to feed a growing population. As a CHS employee, you help empower agriculture by creating connections that bring shared success.

Strength in action: Global crop nutrients supply feeds U.S. fields

May 05, 2020

Pulled from deep under the Earth's crust in another hemisphere, harvested from ancient seabeds in Florida or transformed from natural gas deposits beneath the American Heartland, it’s a complex journey for crop nutrients from origin to final destination. Every load that arrives at a field at the right time to feed hungry crops is a logistical achievement — one that requires analyzing millions of data points; orchestrating a constantly moving network of ships, railcars, barges and trucks; and managing an extensive supply chain informed by local expertise.

Playing Home and AwayWith an investment in domestic nitrogen production through CF Nitrogen, LLC, and long-term relationships with nutrient suppliers around the world, CHS provides a reliable supply of crop nutrients. A relationship with Mosaic in Brazil also builds overall volume and year-round product movement to enhance the role of CHS in the marketplace. Those connections also mean CHS has access to market intelligence that helps influence fertilizer supply and price for U.S. customers and owners.

Putting the “Multi” in MultimodalCounting on a supplier with access to transportation by sea, rail, river and road means there’s always a way to deliver crop nutrients. The spring of 2019 tested that theory, when flooding closed the U.S. river system for much of the spring and CHS logistics experts moved fertilizer by train and truck to northern warehouses. Putting barges on the river is still the most cost-effective and preferred way to move tons when possible.

Cooperatives Call the ShotsWith hundreds of local warehouses and a network of efficient crop nutrient hubs, cooperatives control most of the dry fertilizer storage in the Midwest. Not only does this provide a steady, reliable supply of fertilizer for cooperative owners and customers, but it also gives those owners access to patronage derived from fertilizer sales revenues.

Pairing domestic production with global origination, the CHS Agronomy distribution network uses every available means to move fertilizer into place so farmers have the nutrients they need as the growing season unfolds. With access to a deepwater port and multiple transportation modes, CHS teams can position tonnage as efficiently as possible. Constant communication with farmer-owners, cooperatives and fertilizer manufacturers helps CHS create accurate forecasts to ensure shipments arrive on time and are distributed effectively throughout the network.

Deepwater portThe CHS deepwater port at Galveston, Texas, accepts ships filled with urea and phosphate from ports around the world. Nutrients travel north by rail from Galveston.

Inland terminalsA network of terminals throughout the U.S., owned by CHS or in partnership with local cooperatives, helps ensure timely delivery of crop nutrients to prepare for the next season and to meet in-season demand.

River assetsStrategically placed terminals along major U.S. waterways bring tons of imported fertilizer north from New Orleans, La.